METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) said investors now see the Philippines as a country that’s just starting the journey to sustainable growth.
Metrobank President Fabian Dee said the outlook on the economy is very bullish, as shown by investors’ confidence on the Philippines compared with its Asean peers.
“Generally, investors are very bullish on our country. The feeling is that the growth potential of Thailand is probably plateauing. In Indonesia the thinking there is: ‘All banks have probably lend too much to consumer and that consumer debt is quite high,’” he told the BusinessMirror.
“For the Philippines, we’re just starting this journey where we’ll be seeing a very sustainable and explosive growth. We’re hitting the $3,000 gross domestic product per capita already. It looks pretty good,” Dee added. He said that the country is at the point of inflection, where motorization will really take off and retail business is just about to hit a boom.
“We can already see the foreign retailers coming in. Everyone has that perception,” he said.
Dee said he sees overseas Filipino remittance and business-process outsourcing to be very strong, while locators are increasing their presence here as new players come in.